Lost Memories
by Remus J. Lupin-Black
Summary: AU. It starts as a simple kidnapping. It will become an adventure unlike any other as a group of mismatched heroes find themselves drawn into a battle for their lives. RemusSirius
1. Of Wizards, Princes, and Thieves

**Chapter One**  
Of Wizards, Princes, and Thieves  
-

He sat in the chair, his back ramrod straight, hands in his lap, and head bowed forward so that his long brown hair, unbound at the moment, fell over his shoulders to veil his face. His left hand went to the claw shaped ruby hanging from a gold chain around his neck. It pulsed comfortingly beneath his fingers and he took a deep breath and brushed his hair from his face, wiping away any trace of tears.

His composure regained, he bound his hair back from his face with a white hair tie and stood. Pulling back the curtains from the large windows, he unlatched it and pushed it open, gazing out across the castle grounds and to the city beyond the walls. An airship could be seen on the horizon, it's hull dark against the setting sun. He sighed. It was nearly time.

-

Entering the city had been easier than Severus had anticipated. He had always heard stories of the power of Gryffindor's army, but upon entering the city, he had just been waved through the gate with barely a glance. They had been paying more attention to the crowd of nobles from Ravenclaw. He adjusted his hood and proceeded down the street into a crowd of people. He didn't blend in particularly well, but a simple cloaking spell, muttered under his breath as a young woman gazed curiously at him, handled that little problem quite well.

The Kingdom of Gryffindor was the largest of the five kingdoms on the continent of Hogwarts; it's territory including the Forbidden Forest and the expansive land beyond leading to the Mist Cavern. The main city was built around the grand palace in a style that seemed to have been pulled out of a medieval fantasy than any sort of real design. Classic style building of gray stone and yellowing plaster made up most of the homes and businesses.

To Severus the place seemed to glow with color and light, a strange turn from Slytherin, the City of Eternal Night. Perhaps it was more than just the architecture, he thought, but the lack of poverty and dark magic that made the city seem so much more wholesome.

Severus found the whole thing irritating at best and wanted to be gone from the city and the kingdom as quickly as possible. He had been ordered here and as soon as he had completed the task assigned to him, he would leave.

Gryffindor was a city devoted to war. It had been nearly two centuries since the last war, but Gryffindor had honed her skills. They excelled in the art of weapons, their creation, use, and mastery. If one wished to master the use of a spear, one had only to come to Gryffindor and they were sure to find someone willing to take on the task. It was here that the continents most powerful swordsman lived, the great General Granger, leader of the Gryffindor army.

Severus had been certain to learn all that he could about the great kingdom before he had come. If one came to a city with the purpose of stealing a prince, one had to know what he would need to do in order to not get caught stealing said prince.

Apparently it was going to be easier than he had imagined. What a shame.

Too busy thinking about his ruined plans to kidnap the Gryffindor prince, Severus nearly didn't see the man dressed flamboyantly in orange and blue standing only a few feet away, an amplifier to his mouth.

"…in honor of Prince Remus' seventeenth birthday, a performance of 'I Want To Be Your Canary' by Sir Wilhelm of Ravenclaw by the Marauder theatre troupe has been arranged! The play will begin prompt at eight!"

Severus didn't bother stopping to listen to whatever else the man was shouting. He moved with a group of people through the castle gate. The two soldiers standing at attention didn't even glance at him. Smirking, he shook his head; this was really going to be too easy.

-

"Where the hell have you been?" Dora asked looking up from the deck of cards she was shuffling absently. Sitting back in her chair, she had her feet up on the table. Her pink hair was spiked, a few strands falling into her blue eyes.

"Checking out security," Sirius answered with a grin, leaning against the door jamb.

"And?" Aberforth, standing at the far end of the dimly lit room, asked. He was dressed in a flowing robe and holding a fake gold crown in his hands.

"It'll be easy."

Alastor snorted.

"Don't get your hopes up, boy," he growled. "We ought to make sure we've got the plan down."

"We went over it an hour ago!" Dora whined.

The cards in her hands exploded and she yelped in surprise, falling backwards onto the floor. Rolling back onto her feet, she coughed, brushing soot and burnt card pieces from the wine red suit she was wearing for the play. Kingsley, standing a few feet away laughed and she glared at him while Sirius and Emmeline, sitting in the chair closest to Dora, exchanged shared looks over amusement. Emmeline was wearing a dark green dress with a shawl draped over her shoulder.

"I'd say we need to go over it again," Aberforth said easily.

Dora sat down again and everyone turned their attention to their leader who was still fiddling with the crown in his hands.

"All right, let's go over this step by step," he said. "Once the plays start, Sirius and Dora are going to sneak into the castle. That'll be easy enough. From there," he pointed to Sirius and Dora, "you'll have about twenty minutes between the duel and the final scene to find the prince and get him alone. That'll be the hardest part, but Dora mentioned something about using Puffskeins to get the royal family off of the balcony. You'll drug the prince and bring him to the airship. We'll leave as soon as the curtain falls."

"It sounds easy," Alastor said lowly, "but I'm betting something will go wrong."

Dora sighed.

"You say that every time we take a job and nothing ever goes wrong."

-

Captain Ronald Weasley stood on the left side of the massive doors leading from the balcony into the royal chambers. He gazed over at General Granger standing on the opposite side. One of Granger's hands was resting easily on the hilt of her great sword, her brown eyes watching the king and prince carefully, her brown eyes narrowed. He followed her gaze to the prince and his eyes widened.

The prince had his head bowed forward and from his angle, he could see that the prince wasn't even watching the stage, his hand clutched tightly around the Lion's Claw hanging around his neck. He frowned. King Cornelius was clapping with the rest of the crowd, oblivious to his son's inattention.

-

Aberforth walked out onto the stage and held up his arms to signal quiet from the crowd. He smiled serenely and straightened up slightly before he spoke.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight's performance is a story that takes place many years ago. A tale of star crossed lovers torn apart by our heroine's father, King Leo. Our story begins on the night of the lovers meeting. A tale of love and tragedy, we present to you on this most auspicious day of Prince Remus' seventeenth birthday, 'I Want To Be Your Canary'!"

-

King Cornelius was enjoying the play, his eyes watching the actors move around on stage carefully while Remus kept most of his focus on his lap. He wouldn't have much time to sneak aboard the airship before it left. Only a few minutes perhaps. It wouldn't do for them to discover they had a stowaway until it was too late to turn back. He sighed, shifting impatiently in his chair and looked up toward the stage.

One of the characters, a dark haired man, was talking passionately to a smaller male with pink hair. Both of them held swords. Remus paid only the smallest bit of attention to what was being said. He knew when the final scene would begin and he knew exactly when he would be able to excuse himself from the balcony.

"Consider this, Zidane! If Princess Cornelia were to marry Prince Snyder, peace would reign over both their kingdoms!" said the pink-haired woman.

"'Tis foolishness!" the dark haired man snapped. "If all were so easy, why none would suffer in this world!"

Remus' eyes narrowed and he stood slowly. That was his cue.

"I shall be back in a moment, father," he said quietly, hoping that perhaps his father wouldn't notice him leaving.

He didn't.

With a sigh of relief, Remus made his escape, ignoring the fact that Weasley and Granger both looked after him in some confusion.

-

The swordfight had been carefully planned. They had fought their way through the crowd, exchanging blows and words, and then disappeared into the castle just as the scene ended. Dora was a few paces ahead of Sirius in the hallway. She found the guards first and took them out, with a well-placed knock to the head from the hilt of her dagger. They both fell to the ground, the metal armor making a loud crash as it hit the stone floor.

"Sorry," Dora whispered, looking apologetic as Sirius neared.

"Doesn't matter. Let's get moving. We haven't got much time."

-

Really, it was too simple. Severus stood easily in one of the dark hallways of the castle, his black eyes looking back and forth carefully. He had been hoping for something interesting, a few guards at the very least. This wasn't going to be nearly as fun as he'd hoped.

-

If Remus had been anyone else, he would have screamed. Or maybe if he hadn't seen his attacker a few seconds before he had been grabbed. He was pulled tightly against an armored chest. Was this one of the knights? He realized with a start that he was having trouble breathing and struggled for a moment. A dagger was pressed to his throat. He froze.

"Well, we were going to drug you, but this works too," a voice spoke in his ear. "Come on Your Highness."

"I would suggest that you release him," a cold, angry voice said from the end of the hallway.

Remus' eyes widened in surprise as a tall, imposing figure walked down the hallways toward them: a Black Mage. Remus cried out in alarm and attempted to move closer to the man who was holding him.

"What are you going to do to me, huh?" the man holding Remus demanded. "You're weaponless."

"I don't need a weapon," the hooded figure said, lifting his right hand up quickly.

Flames erupted from his extended palm, forming a brilliant orange flame that rested in the mage's hand, flickering and radiating heat. Remus closed his eyes and concentrated on his own magical reserves.

"You wouldn't dare," the man growled. "I've got the prince."

"Who said I needed him unharmed?" the mage asked and he threw the ball of fire toward them both.

"Protego!" there was a burst of red magic and a blast of hot hair brushed over Remus and then disappeared. He fell to the floor, the man behind him falling over as well, and watched as the fire spell hit the sparkling red barrier hanging between him and the Black Mage.

"Nice," looking back, Remus saw the armored man grinning at him. His skin was tanned from prolonged exposure to the sun and his black hair fell loosely down his back nearly to his waist. He certainly didn't look like a kidnapper. "Guess you're not as weak as I thought."

"I will have you know tha-," Remus started, but the black haired man reached down and hoisted him to his feet, urging him to the other end of the hallway where a pink haired woman stood waiting for them.

-

Severus gazed after the two armored figures as they forced the prince down the hall and around a corner. The prince tripped once, but the black haired thief only pulled him up and forced him to walk faster. Before the barrier fell, they were out of sight. With a growl of frustration, Severus started after them. It was going to be a much more difficult task then he had thought. Good.

-

Next Chapter: Exiting Gryffindor proves more difficult then one would hope...


	2. Leaving Gryffindor

**Chapter Two**  
Escape  
-

Crabbe and Goyle walked slowly down the hall. They exchanged slightly panicked looks as they neared the royal balcony and the two guards standing at the doors, looking bored. The two armor clad women perked up slightly when the saw the two coming toward them.

"Halt!" order the taller of the two guards, her hand resting threateningly on the hilt of her sword. They stopped as the guard stepped forward. "State your business."

"We need to speak to the king. It is an emergency," Goyle answered slowly. The guard scowled, but stepped aside and pulled the door behind her open.

"Give me a moment," she said sternly as she disappeared onto the balcony, the heavy door closing behind her. The shorter guard gazed at them, her hand resting on the hilt of her own sword. It was as if she was hoping they would try to force their way onto the royal balcony.

The taller guard returned, looking grim.

"He will see you, but make it quick. The king does no appreciate that you are interrupting the play, even if it is nearly over," she said, pulling the door open again and gesturing them through.

"What is it?" King Cornelius snapped as they approached the throne.

"Prince Remus has disappeared," Goyle answered.

"What?" the king stood up. "General Granger! Captain Weasley!"

Hermione snapped to attention, her hand still resting on her sword hilt. She smirked when she saw Weasley jump to attention, his armor creating a loud clamor as he straightened up, stepping toward the throne and saluting. She always thought he wore far too much armor.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" she asked smoothly, her brown eyes crinkled with laughter as Weasley glared at her from across the balcony, his helmet leaving only the upper part of his face visible.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Ron asked. Cornelius waved both of them off as he paced behind his throne.

"Find my son immediately," the two knights gazed curiously at each other. King Cornelius looked furiously at them. "I do not have all night, move!"

-

Severus cursed under his breath as he snuck onto the theatre ship. The two thieves had managed to disappear rather quickly. Like rats, the damn theatre brats were just common thieves. Resourceful ones though if he could navigate the maze-like layout of Gryffindor castle so easily, especially with the prince in tow. Severus moved carefully toward the door closest to him and pressed his ear to it, listening. He heard voices, muffled heavily through the oak door. He could hear a woman and a man speaking, but it was nearly impossible to disconcert what they were saying.

"Fuck!" the man was shouting obscenities and something slammed.

Severus just barely managed to make it out of the way as the door slammed open and the man that had taken Prince Remus strode angrily into the room. The pink haired thief followed him, her violet colored hair gathered into a complex bun at the base of her neck. She was wearing a dark red dress.

"Calm down, it's not like he could have gotten very far on the ship," the woman was saying as she followed him across the galley to the other door. Severus remained behind the door, listening.

"Dora, if he's seen by someone it's going to ruin everything! That little brat! This is why I hate jobs dealing with actual people!" the man yelled and he made a wild gesture as he pulled open the opposite door and stalked through it, the woman at his heels trying to placate him.

Severus followed quietly behind.

-

Ron Weasley, captain of the Knights of Gryffindor and loyal protector of Prince Remus, moved carefully down the hall, his armor creaking and clanking enough to warn even the deafest of individuals. Hermione had gone the other way to check the city. She had of course taken the time to order Ron to look through the crowd.

He stepped out into the crowd. People pressed in around him from all angles as they hurried to leave the courtyard, laughing and speaking with great enthusiasm about the performance. Ron gazed over them, glad for his six foot six frame, as he surveyed faces for one he recognized.

-

Remus stepped lightly out onto the backstage of the airships prow, glad for the chance to examine the stage where the performance had taken place. His blue eyes alight with interest as he examined a large pile of props; he was surprised to find that many of the weapons were real.

There was a particularly loud surge of conversation from beyond the curtain. Remus looked up from his examination. He stood slowly and moved toward the curtain. Just as he had pulled it back and gazed out onto the stage, a loud, rough voice spoke, "I would suggest Your Highness that you stepped back, unless you want me to knock you out," the prince turned to find his kidnapper standing next to him, a grave look upon his face.

"It would do you well not to speak to the heir of Gryffindor in such tones," Remus spat back, drawing his hand from the curtain and allowing it to fall back into place, plunging them into darkness.

"I'll speak to you how I wanna speak to you," Sirius almost grinned at the fire that flashed in the prince's eyes he turned to him.

"Y-you," Remus stammered for perhaps the first time in his life.

"So I can shut you up, good," Sirius said, examining his right hand in the dim light.

"You pretentious, low class mutt," Remus hissed. "I did not ask to be brought here. You are lucky I haven't called the palace guard to hang you."

Sirius's gray eyes flared angrily and before he could stop himself, there was a loud crack and the prince was thrown to the floor. Both men froze, Sirius staring at the prince in shock while Remus held his hand over his reddened cheek, head bowed so that the long brown strands hung into his eyes.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Sirius repeated as he knelt down beside Remus.

"My apologies," the dark haired man blinked as the prince spoke.

"What?"

Remus cleared his throat and looked up, blue eyes brimming with tears as a nasty bruise began to shade the left side of his face.

"I apologize, I should not have said such a thing," for the briefest of moments, Sirius felt an overwhelming surge of affection toward the prince, but it was quickly ruined by a voice behind them. "I do not intend to turn you into the guards. I want to be kidnapped."

Sirius frowned.

"You want…" he decided not to push any more buttons for the moment. "Never mind. You want to be kidnapped. I'll do my best."

"I'm afraid that I'm that one that will kidnapping the prince," the two men looked up to find the black mage standing nearby gazing amusedly at them and holding a ball of softly glowing blue magic in his hands.

Before Sirius could stand, Severus threw the magic at him, striking him in the chest and knocking him backwards and into Remus' lap. The prince gazed uncertainly at him, eye wide with shock.

"What did you do to him?" he asked, pulling his legs out from under the thief and standing.

"Just a simple sleep spell, nothing permanent," Severus answered. "It rather simple, even a white mage like you could learn it."

Remus had just enough time to run as the black mage called up another wave of magic and sent it blasting toward him. He ducked out from behind the curtains and onto the stage just as the spell hit, sending him crashing to the stage.

Severus followed.

-

Ron looked up at the stage just only to watch Prince Remus fall onto the stage, blue magic skating across his skin for a moment before dispersing. He could hear people in the crowd whispering about what had happened. Pushing his way through the crowd, he watched as a black-cloaked figure stalk through the curtains toward the unconscious prince. The knight gave a cry of alarm and shoved past an elderly couple watching the stage, wondering aloud if it was part of the performance. Behind him and high above in the balcony above, he could hear King Cornelius giving orders to nearby soldiers.

The mage smirked, "Do you really think you can stop me, Sir Knight," black eyes fell upon him as he climbed up the ramp and onto the airships stage.

Ron stepped forward, drawing his sword and holding it steadily before him as he stepped between the mage and the prince lying at the mage's feet.

"I will not allow you, or anyone else for that matter, harm the prince!" he yelled.

The mage's smirk deepened.

"You have no hope in stopping me," the temperature of the night air had been a nice seventy-five for most of night. Now it had dropped to nearly freezing as the mage lifted his hands into the air and made a quick motion. Ron looked down at his hands, covered by heavy steel gloves, as gazed in horror as a thin sheen of ice crept up his fingers.

With a cry, he flung his sword to the deck and struggled to remove the frozen items before it could spread further up his arms. Within the span of several minutes, he had managed to remove his gloves, armlets, chest plate, and helmet and stood panting in his undershirt and pants, short red hair clinging to the sides of his narrow face.

"Y-you will not take him," he managed, picking up his sword once more and advancing on the black mage.

"Weasley!" Prince Remus cried out in alarm as he woke up just as Ron swung his sword toward the mage.

Stepping easily out of the way, Severus watched in amusement as the knight missed and stumbled. The jolt woke up the thief lying behind the curtains and he appeared, daggers in both of his hands. One disadvantage to the sleep spell, there weren't any after effects.

"I shall cut you both down!" Ron yelled, turning on the thief as well.

"Not today," Sirius said, leaping gracefully out of the way of the blade. "It's two against one now," Sirius growled, brandishing his daggers threateningly.

"I will not give up!" Weasley struck out at the thief, this time catching him and leaving a deep slash across his upper arm.

Sirius hissed in pain, his hand going immediately to the wound.

Remus stood and joined the battle simply by lifting his arms and casting another spell. White lights wrapped around Sirius's arm, flushing through the wound and healing the flesh. The dark haired man looked down at his arm in surprise and than over at the prince.

"Wha-?"

"I am a white mage," the prince explained simply as he cast another spell upon the black mage, healing a nasty looking cut on his hand.

"Nice," Sirius said cheerfully and he rushed toward the knight, intent upon bringing him down.

Before he could strike, the airships engine roared to life and the gigantic contraption shuddered, throwing him to his knees. Dora must have gotten to Aberforth and told him what was going on. Clearly they were going to leave now. He heard screams from the people in the crowd that had lingered too long and were littered with falling brick as the anchors were ripped harshly from the stone courtyard and then the terrific mind shattering sound of a cannon firing.

Looking up in alarm, Sirus saw the terrific ball of flames coming directly toward them. Without thinking, he grabbed the prince's arm, slamming him down onto the deck and covered his body with his own just as the magical weapon hit the ship and exploded.

Debris fell upon the four in a rain of heated ash and wood, covering them, as the airship took off, very nearly crashing into a nearby building. With a stuttering delay, the airship finally managed to fly away from the castle. Remus struggled out from beneath Sirius and stood, gazing back at the balcony where his father stood, looking furious. He sighed and sat down on the deck again.

"We're going to crash," Severus said simply as he sat up and pressed a palm to a heavily bleeding head wound.

"I noticed," Sirius grumbled, getting to his feet.

The airship lurched again and he fell back onto his knees as the airship tilted and began to descend rapidly into the dark trees at the bottom of the cliff beyond the western walls of the royal city. The airship plunged into the trees of the Forbidden Forest with a loud crash, fires ignited in the engines catching the nearby trees. The four on the back of the ship were thrown off as it came to a crash in a clearing of its own making.

-

_Next Chapter: The Forbidden Forest leaves at least one of the group changed..._


	3. The Forbidden Forest

**Chapter Three**  
The Forbidden Forest  
-

Severus woke with a start as a menacing squawk filled the air. He heard the rustle of feathers as a massive bird took off from a nearby tree. Sitting up, he groaned as a sharp stab of pain lanced through his body, namely his back and leg. Adjusting himself into a sitting position, he reached down and touched the aching limb carefully, feeling for breaks or lesions. He hissed in pain as his fingers found a large gash on the outside of his right thigh.

He closed his eyes and leaned forward slightly, his palms flat on the ground as he tried to gather himself together and feel his surrounding. From the deadly silence that surrounded him, he could ascertain one thing by the hisses, howls, and other noises in the background: they were in the Forbidden Forest.

"I see you've awakened," a soft voice spoke from his right.

Severus opened his eyes and looked up to find Prince Remus standing nearby looking calmly down at him, his hands at his sides. His clothes, made of some soft looking white material, were shredded and burned from the crash. Any wounds he may have suffered seemed had all ready been healed. He looked only tired and frightened.

"I am thankful I found you so quickly. The wounds you are suffering from may be infected," the prince said kindly as he knelt down beside the black mage, holding his hands over the gash in Severus' thigh. A pulse of white-hot light and a dagger of pain and the wound healed over, only a barely noticeable reddening of the skin left.

"Do you expect a thank you?" Severus growled as he struggled to his feet.

"Certainly not," Remus answered, simply. "At least not from a kidnapper of royalty."

"You wished to be taken, don't tell me otherwise," Severus growled, looking around the clearing. "Where's the thief?"

"Sirius," the prince corrected looking around the clearing as if he expected the thief to appear from behind a bush. "I am uncertain. Perhaps he is nearby."

Severus hummed in agreement and cracked his neck.

"I see, well, we should get going, my master is not a patient man," Severus began walking toward what he could only hope was a path that would lead out of the forest.

"What is your name?"

"Severus," the mage snapped irritably. "May we go?"

"Where are you taking me?" the prince demanded.

He had ever intention of stunning the prince where he stood and taking him to Slytherin unconscious. At least it would keep the brat quiet. Black eyes narrowed as he tried to remember the words to the spell. He was about to speak when he saw a sinuous black-cloaked figure move out of the trees toward the prince.

-

"Oy, Sirius, wake up!"

Gray eyes blinking open wearily, Sirius found himself looking up at Dora as she gazed worriedly down at him. She was kneeling down beside him, her hand on his forehead.

"D-Dora," he stuttered.

"Hey! You're awake, drink this," a small vial was dangled above his head, its blue contents shimmering in the moonlight. Sirius sat up and ripped it from her hand. As he down it, she said, "For all you know, that could've been poison."

"You wouldn't poison me, Dora, you like me too much," Sirius said with a grin, waiting out the medicinal rush of the potion before he struggled to his feet, feeling his waist for his daggers.

Dora handed them to him, having pulled them out of her own belt.

"We found the knight, he's causing a ruckus," she jerked her head to the left and as Sirius strode over and opened the door, he found Weasley shouting at Kingsley who was looking at the knight as if he were a bug.

"We must find the prince at once! I demand that you assist me!" Weasley shouted.

"I'll help if you shut your mouth, you're attracting monsters," Sirius snapped, walking over to them, Dora at his heels. Kingsley shot him a grateful look.

Weasley stopped in his tirade to look at him.

"Monsters?" he demanded.

"Yeah," he pointed over Weasley's shoulder. "Werewolves and god knows what else are probably wandering around looking for something to snack on. There are some really nasty creatures in these woods."

Not bothering to check if Weasley was following him, Sirius walked out of the room and through a hole in the side of the airship. He could hear Weasley's armor as he followed.

The airship had made a sizable clearing, tree, split in half by the crash, lying on the ground, some of them in flames. Aberforth and Alastor were directing the rest of the crew to putting out fires. The crew worked in relative silence, shooting nervous looking toward the dark trees that towered all around them.

A scream pierced the air, echoing through the tree. Dora and several of the crew jumped and a large section of wood from the prow of the airship crashed to the ground as Gawain and Proudfoot dropped it in surprise. Kingsley didn't even blink. The dark-skin man just jerked his head toward the south and caught Sirius's eyes. Sirius nodded and took off running. The knight shouted in surprised and followed him through the trees, ignoring the bile that rose in his throat as they pushed through thorn bushes searching for the source of the scream.

Sirius skidded around a tree, very nearly taking his own head off with a low hanging branch, his hand scrapping along the bark. Weasley clanked along behind him, faster than Sirius expected him to be, but still too slow for his liking. Shoving through a thorn bush, he bit back a hiss of pain as thorns dug painfully into his skin, drawing blood as he forced his way forward.

He felt it just a few seconds before he saw it, a bone chilling cold that had him stumbling the last few steps out of the brush, and a sinking sensation in his gut. A face, eerily familiar to his own, scowling, flashed across his mind.

"I don't understand why you're so special."

Sirius pressed a hand to his forehead as the voice echoed through his mind. Looking up, he saw a black-cloaked creature moving across the ground from between the trees, decayed hands appearing from beneath the sleeves of the robes. Remus has collapsed at the feet of the creature as it wrapped its fingers around the prince's arm, pulling Remus up. As if it were trying to kiss him.

Sirius stumbled another step and he saw out of the corner of his eye, Severus walking toward him, a large, silver cat at his side. As the silver animal brushed past his legs and bound toward the cloaked creature, Sirius felt some of his strength returning. Sirius grasped Severus' arm for a moment and then without a word, fainted. Severus didn't even glance at him.

"A Dementor," Severus explained to Weasley, too busy watching his Patronus force the Dementor away from the prince and back into the trees. "We need to get back to the ship before it comes back."

-

Severus glared at Sirius as the thief sat on one of the beds in the ship's steerage, drinking a cup of hot chocolate while Dora examined Remus. The prince was still unconscious and as Severus explained to her, Sirius, and Weasley what a Dementor was; they grew more and more concerned with the prince's current state.

Sirius started speaking suddenly, standing up and setting the cup on the floor. Severus didn't bother paying attention to the thief's need to speak to his boss, Aberforth. He was far too busy wondering how he was going to manage to get possession of the prince without having to kill anyone.

Glaring at Sirius as he straightened up, Weasley hovered over Remus, ignoring the thief as he walked out of the room. Severus looked at Dora.

"Does he all ways do that?" he asked.

"That's Sirius," she replied.

-

"You can't be serious?" Aberforth looked up from his examination of the surviving food stock and over to Sirius. The boy was pacing, his head bowed, hands going from his belt to his dagger to his hair, fingers tangling through the long strands momentarily before repeating the process all over again.

"Quite serious," Aberforth said. "You're going to finish the job. Take His Highness to Ravenclaw and be rid of him."

"I can do that," Sirius snapped, stopping and looking wildly at Aberforth. "I have a problem with you and everyone else staying here though. This ship is trashed."

"We need to salvage what we can," Aberforth said wisely, stroking his beard. "Shouldn't take us more than a week."

"Oh right and in the meantime, you can get soul sucked by Dementors!"

"We can handle ourselves," Aberforth said sternly, blue eyes flashing and stopping Sirius in his tracks. "You take the prince to Ravenclaw."

Sirius stared at him for a moment, fingers clenching into a fist. He nodded, shoulders squared and gray eyes flashing menacingly. Aberforth reminded himself that trusting Sirius with the job, even if he being awfully bitchy about it was for the best. The boy would get it done. No matter what it took.

"Fine," Sirius said lowly and he turned on his heels and stalked out of the room.

Aberforth called after him, "And take the damn knight and mage with you! I don't want them on my ship!"

-

Sirius slipped back into the small room, glancing momentarily at Remus.

"Still unconscious?" he asked Dora.

"Yup," she replied. "What'd the boss say?"

"I'm taking him to Ravenclaw," Sirius replied easily.

"His Highness will be returning to Gryffindor and you thieves will be put on trial for kidnapping," Weasley said, straightening up.

"You couldn't do anything to me if you tried, rusty," Sirius muttered.

"I will be taking the prince to Slytherin," Severus said smoothly. "I can easily kill all of you now and be on my way."

"A deal than?" Sirius strode across the room, boots thudding heavily on the wooden floor, and offered his hand to the mage. "You help me get the prince to Ravenclaw so I can get paid and I'll help you bring him to Slytherin. I'll give you half of my share."

Severus growled. "It would be easier to just take the prince directly to Slytherin from here. It's only a few days walk."

"You've got a point," Sirius said and he ran his fingers through his hair, humming thoughtfully.

"Of course, we are planning on killing him," Severus said smoothly. "I don't suppose it makes a big difference if his death is postponed."

Weasley shouted, his hand going to the hilt of his sword, the metal scrapping the hilt as it was drawn. Dora jumped to her feet, her long fingers wrapping around the hilt of her dagger. She was too quick for the knight, her blade pressed to his jugular before he could even fully draw his blade.

"Put it away," she said, her voice overly cheerful. Weasley's eyes narrowed beneath his helmet, but he put his sword back in place. It was then that Remus sat up, looking pale, but alive. Weasley breathed a sigh of relief and moved to the prince's side as Dora put her dagger away.

"Fine," Severus said suddenly, taking Sirius's still outstretched hand. "I'll help you; for now."

Sirius grinned.

-

Hestia stood uneasily in the clearing that surrounded the crash site, gazing out at the dark trees. Kingsley was sitting on a log nearby sharpening the edge of the wooden dagger that he used. Aberforth had put the both of them on guard duty. Aberforth may have been a bit strange at times, what with his pet goat, but he wasn't an idiot. Besides, his brother was the most powerful blue mage since Merlin, which was probably why they were all still alive. The magic that had been imbued upon the airship when it had been built hadn't stopped it from crashing, but it had kept it in one piece.

A branch cracked somewhere just beyond where the light from the moon touched and Kingsley leapt up, his dagger forgotten in favor of drawing his sword.

Hestia sighed, "Relax, Kingsley."

Kingsley looked at Hestia for a moment and than sheathed his sword and sat back down to continue his project.

"Do you think we'll be able to get out of here?" he asked.

Hestia shrugged, looking warily around for a moment before relaxing against the tree she had been leaning against for the last ten minutes.

"Who knows? With the way the boss is acting, we're probably going to get out of here as soon as it's light," Kingsley sighed. "I hear the prince got attacked by some monster in the forest. I bet we'll hang for this."

"First we kidnap the prince, then we get him attacked by monsters, and now we're putting him in Sirius's care; probably," Hestia replied with a smile attitude.

"You worry me sometimes," Kingsley muttered.

"I worry myself," she said with a laugh, "but it beats being depressed all the time."

-

"When will we depart?" Remus asked, watching Sirius as he knelt upon the floor of the galley and put a loaf of bread into the bag at his feet along with some dried fruit that lay scattered about on the floor.

"As soon as we've gotten enough food to last us," Sirius answered, closing the bag and putting it over his shoulder. "We've got to get to Ravenclaw before Cornelius sends someone. They'll probably hang the lot of us."

"And you'd deserve it for kidnapping the prince," Weasley said with a scowl.

"You're an accomplice," Sirius muttered. "You'll be hanged with the rest of us."

"Impossible!" Weasley looked furious. "I won't be put into the same lot as you."

"Weasley," Remus said sternly, gazing down at his ruined dress robes, "I am going with him to Ravenclaw."

"I have vowed to protect you," Weasley said carefully. "It would be further treason if I did not see to it that you were kept alive," he looked at Severus. "I do not think you should allow this thief to escort you though. I would suggest that you find another way, Your Highness."

"It is not your place, Weasley."

-

"According to this map, we're here," pointing to a spot just beyond the edge of the Forbidden Forest alongside a large lake, Sirius tried to gather his bearing and figure out how he would get out of the mountain surrounded moor.

Weasley was standing at his shoulder, looking at the map as Sirius examined it.

"This map makes no sense to me," the knight said after a moment.

Sirius sighed.

"This map is a project that I've been working on for a while now. It's a magical map. It hardly makes sense to me right now because I still can't figure out how to make it work better."

"You're carrying around a map that you can't read?" Remus asked.

"I can read it," Sirius snapped. "I just can't make the map do what I want it to do."

"Which is?" Weasley prompted.

"Zoom in on our location," Sirius sighed. "Look, Gryffindor is located at the top of a cliff and Ravenclaw is on the southwest side of these mountains and the only way to get over these mountains is to either climb them or to go through this cave here," he pointed to the tiny print.

"So what is the problem now?" Severus asked from where he was sitting.

"I want it to show me more details on this cave, but the damn map isn't working," he sighed. "It normally works perfectly."

"Where did you get this?"

"I've had it since before I can remember," Sirius said simply.

Severus snorted in disbelief.

"Wonderful, an unreadable map into a cave which probably hasn't seen a living soul since Merlin's time, and we're just going to walk through it," the mage scowled. "I'm sure we'll be killed by whatever has moved in since it was last used."

"Doubtful," Sirius said, folding up the map carefully and tucking it into his bag. "Come on, I want to get there before nightfall."

-

_Next chapter: The group enters the cave and find far more than they bargained for..._


	4. The Cave

**Chapter Four**  
Ice Cavern  
-

One thousand years ago, the Ice Caverns had been a place of worship for a small cult of dragon worshippers. Gifted by the white dragon with power magical skills, they went out into the world to spread peace. It turned to war and the black mage, Fata Morgana, trapped the white dragon in its ice prison. It is said that those surviving worshippers returned to protect the sacred home to their dragon god.

-

Sirius was at a loss for words. He had, in all of his years of travel with the Marauders, never seen anything like this cavern. Standing at the entrance, looking at the ice covered walls, he found the sight intimidating, if not unnerving. The mage still thought they were walking to their deaths and Weasley was still trying to convince the prince to return to Gryffindor. Sirius ignored them for now, intent on studying the glittering walls for a moment. He rubbed his arms, covered in gooseflesh.

Severus spoke after a moment, "It is nearly spring; this ice should be melting."

Sirius shrugged, not caring and took a few steps forward. The thin layer of ice on the floor crunched under his boots as he walked. The others followed quickly behind him.

"Have you heard of this place?" Remus asked.

"The old legends," Severus answered simply, "of the founders tells about the white dragon forever imprisoned in ice by the dark witch, Fata Morgana."

"Didn't they beat her?" Sirius called back to them.

"Yes, Salazar, Rowena, Helga, and Gryffindor defeated Fata Morgana only after the death, or imprisonment – it depends on who is telling the story – of the white dragon. Well, according to Slytherin storytellers, it was Salazar that struck the killing blow."

"According to the elves, it was Helga," Weasley said sharply.

"And we in Gryffindor say that it was Godric," Remus said smoothly. Sirius rolled his eyes. It figured each blood kingdom would want their founder to be the one who killed Morgana.

"What would you know of elves and their tales, knight?" Severus asked accusatorily.

"I happen to be from Hufflepuff," Weasley said.

Sirius looked back as Weasley removed his helmet, revealing carefully trimmed red hair, sharp blue eyes, and softly pointed ears. He rolled his eyes and ignored the three behind him in favor of deciding on which direction they should go at the split path up ahead. He would have to ask them eventually.

"And yet you are a Gryffindor captain," Severus sneered.

"The reasons for my dwelling in Gryffindor and choosing to serve its king are of no concern of yours," Weasley said defensively. "And you are one to speak, half-elf."

Sirius had had enough. He didn't care if the mage was a bloody naga. He turned around and very nearly had to jump out of the way as the knight nearly walked into him. Weasley looked at him for a moment and he scowled.

"Right or left?" he demanded. "Unless you'd rather just walk blindly through this place and be eaten by something?"

-

"Have you searched the crash site?" Cornelius demanded.

"We were unable to, Your Majesty. The creatures in the forest swarmed in on us as soon as we landed. I had to order them to retreat to avoid casualties," Granger answered, standing at ease before her king, her left hand resting on the hilt of her sword.

"The prince is worth more than a few of your soldiers, Granger," he snarled. "I want that site searched."

"We will return in the morning, Your Majesty," she bowed her head.

"No," Cornelius stood up abruptly from his throne. "I want it to be searched tonight."

"I," Granger gazed at her king in surprise. She knew he was upset about his son's disappearance, but she did not think that the lives of twelve soldiers was worth a search through a crashed airship that had likely been abandoned. They would do better if they searched elsewhere. "Yes, Your Majesty."

She bowed low and then turned and left the room, nodding at the two black mages standing outside. She ordered the two soldiers at the door to allow them through and stood by the door listening as they approached the king. What were Slytherins doing in Gryffindor?

"We have ways of retrieving your son, Your Majesty," said one, his voice raspy from beneath his hood. Granger pressed her back to the wall beside the door and strained to hear.

"I need my son alive, not in pieces," Cornelius said coolly.

"We have an agent that can be sent to find him."

"Then do it," Granger ducked out of the way as the footsteps neared the door and watched as they left, talking quietly. First the prince is kidnapped by a troupe of actors, Weasley is named as traitor, and now black mages were helping the king find the prince. She shook her head. It truly wasn't any of her business, but her curiosity had been peaked. She certainly wasn't going to risk her position, but she would keep her ears open.

-

Sirius studied the icy wall in front of him. They had been walking for nearly three hours now and the prince had decided that he wanted to take a break. Despite Sirius saying they could walk at least another hour, the prince's icy glare had made him drop the matter. Severus had started a fire and the other three were sitting around it, blankets being used to keep the cold from the floors from seeping too much into their clothes.

So, rather than bothering with them, Sirius took his time surveying the area, wondering if he could just drop the mage off the edge of one of these paths and into the dark abyss below. He contemplated it, but it was too much work to do it. Involved in his examination, he didn't hear Remus approaching him from behind. He saw the dirty white robes and brown hair out of the corner of his eye and nearly jumped in surprise.

"It's very pretty," Remus said after a moment.

Sirius shrugged.

"How much longer until we reach Ravenclaw?"

"We'll stop in Hogsmeade for the night," Sirius said. "From there, three days at least. It depends on how many times we have to rest."

"We should move onward," Weasley said suddenly. Sirius turned around and looked at him. "If you are ready, Your Highness."

Remus nodded.

"Yes, let us continue,"

Severus tapped the ground with the end of his staff. The top lit up with blue flames and the small, badly made fire went out. Sirius wondered if that had just been magical, but decided not to question it. They had a lot of ground to cover if they wanted to get out of this cave and he had no way of knowing how far from Hogsmeade they would be.

-

Some hours later, Sirius led the way through a narrow tunnel and out into the cavern beyond it. He could see the pale outlines through the icy walls from the sun and sighed with relief; they were nearly out. He helped Remus through and turned around to examine the room. To their left, a dragon stood on its hide legs, its body encased in ice, and eternally preserving it's massive scaled body.

"The white dragon," Severus breathed, coming up behind the two of them. "I never thought that in all my years, I would see such a sight."

"It's huge," Sirius said, gazing at the fierce looking monster. "You'd think Morgana would've kill it rather than trapping it."

"The dragons are immortal. You can only kill them by destroying the heart. Even the head is re-grown should it be removed," Weasley explained.

"Is it worth anything?" Sirius asked.

"It's priceless," Remus said smoothly.

Sirius snorted.

"Of course," he stretched. "Well, excuse me, but I think we should keep going. This thing isn't exactly going to be waking up and gifting us with extraordinary powers to save the world or something so let's just get out of here. We need to get to Hogsmeade."

Weasley glared at him and he smirked.

"Yes, let's continue," Remus began to walk toward the opposite side of the room. Weasley followed quickly behind him, armor making enough noise that Sirius wondered if it would wake up the bloody dragon. Severus shook his head.

"It is said," he said suddenly, looking pointedly at Sirius, "in elven lore that the white dragon gifted the founders with Animagery. Of course, the founders were after Fata Morgana, so it is likely just a legend."

Sirius shrugged, picking up his pace again and walking far enough behind Remus and Weasley to not be heard.

"You think I'm an heir or something ridiculous like that?" he asked.

"Perhaps. Do you know anything about your family?"

Sirius shrugged.

"Enough to know I'm not an heir of some long dead kings and queens figure," he turned his attention away from the mage.

The room was deathly silent, the only thing of interest the ice-encased dragon. Its eyes followed them. The ancient magic that protected this sacred place swirled to life, creating a sudden breeze through the cavern and around the four walking the ice below. There was an earth-shattering crack as the ice melted and fell upon the party.

Weasley immediately moved to protect the prince, wrapping his arms around Remus's small frame and covering him. Ice hit his armor with a loud crash, denting it as it bounced off. Severus had a shield of fire magic and the ice turned to steam in a matter of seconds, leaving the mage a bit damp. Sirius was unprotected. He cried out in pain as a shard of ice cut through the skin of his shoulder. Something snapped and he fell to his knees.

He felt hands on his shoulder and hissed as the icicle was removed and warm blood soaked through his shirt. Remus murmured a healing spell over the wound and it closed.

"Can you move your arm?" Remus asked.

Sirius shook his head.

"I can't heal broken bones," Remus said, frowning. "Weasley may be able to help."

"That really shouldn't be our biggest problem," Sirius said and suddenly the dragon that had, just moments before, been a block of ice, struck out at Severus.

Severus crumpled to the ground and Remus abandoned Sirius's side to dash toward the fallen mage. Weasley ran forward, drawing his sword as Sirius struggled to his feet, his right arm hanging limply at his side. The dragon lashed out at Weasley, but the knight managed to dodge the blow and his sword cut the delicate skin between the toes, drawing blood.

The dragon howled and this time its blow knocked the knight to the ground, blood standing out brightly upon his armor. The dragon turned its attention to Remus as he knelt beside Severus, all of his energy going toward healing the clawed marks on his side. Sirius stumbled to his feet, pulling one dagger from his belt and holding it with his left hand.

"Hey!" the dragon's red eyes snapped to him and without a sound, the fearsome creature was upon him. He resisted the urge to transform and instead twisted, pulling his arm painfully to avoid the sharp claws. He felt his shirt rip, but there was no pain.

Weasley was on his feet again, rushing back to join the fight, cutting through the soft membrane of the left wing as it was presented to him. By now, Severus was conscious and moving slowly, his wounds healed, but sore. Remus wished suddenly for a weapon of some kind as Severus leaned heavily upon his staff, calling upon a blast of ice magic that froze one wing solid.

The dragon struck out again, screaming now, and it knocked Weasley back several feet, but his armor saved him from any substantial damage. Sirius cursed and rushed forward, ignoring the pain in his right shoulder. The dragon ducked down to catch him in her jaws, but he saw the move and jumped, his boots catching on the scales of her snout. His dagger buried into the membrane of the dragon's right eye.

Rearing back, the dragon tried to shake him off, but he kept his grip on the dagger, crying out as his arm was jerked further from the socket. It was worth it though. Weasley saw his chance and Severus was there to help him. The mage cried out another spell and Weasley's blade sank through the scaled chest into the heart. Blood gushed from the wound as he pulled back, spilling across the ground.

Sirius was thrown from the dragon and he lay on the ground, taking deep breaths, trying to gather the energy to get to his feet. Nearby, he could hear Remus whispering softly in the language of magic and Weasley was at his side, examining his shoulder, muttering about broken collarbones and slings. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief, too happy to be alive to bother struggling as the knight set about setting his collarbone.

-

i Next Chapter: The group arrives in Hogsmeade... /i


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